As somebody who lives in a town with a shitload of those scooters I can say it's slightly rarer for a pickup to simply ram itself though a crowd of people in the arrogant assumption they'll move out of the way.
Fuck Cars
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But did you die .gif
I'd argue having electric vehicles harassing pedestrians on the sidewalks and trails contributes to the number of cars on the road as it makes walking or taking a pedal bike anywhere even more inconvenient, the opposite of what we need.
Scooters go where people walk... trucks usually don't
Whew! It’s a good thing trucks never go through cross walks or across curb cuts to get into parking lots and drive throughs.
The only reason people ride scooters on the sidewalks is because our infrastructure is severely lacking and you get stuck “sharing” a lane with a 6000+lb truck.
You aren’t wrong and neither are they.
Not in my city. It is illegal for motorized vehicles of any kind to travel on sidewalks.
Is it just me, or does this thread feel unusually hostile towards scooters for being in fuckcars?
Right? The scooters are only in the sidewalks because the cars actively make the roads dangerous for them. But here we are in a place that supposedly hates cars defending them against a very useful replacement for a huge amount of people.
My city has a pretty good protected bike lane network, and a result is you rarely see scooters or bikes on the sidewalks (at least in the parts of town with good protected bike lanes). Instead, you get lots of scooters and bikes zipping safely by without endangering pedestrians. At least on my route to work, I'm about 90% sure there are more commuters in the bike lanes than cars on the road, despite the cars getting 90+% of the road space.
They need the same infrastructure that bicycles and have gotten popular really fast. Since the infrastructure cannot accomodate them (no bike lane), the scotters become a nuisance for everyone.
With proper infrastructure though (cycling lanes and parking spots) they are fine. (Some might argue about users not following the rules, I'd say, sometimes you can't respect the rules because the street is shit).
Also private companies monopolising public space, not cool. (that one I still stand by, and I hope they pay "rent" that goes towards maintaining the roads.)
it's so fascinating how people absolutely lose their minds over e-scooters, and these are people who shit on drivers for doing the exact same thing to cyclists!
One of these share footpaths with pedestrians. The other two have to use their own dedicated pathways.
I couldn't care less if e-scooters gain more traction but I do care if a completely unprotected vehicle can go at speeds where either the driver/rider or a pedestrian can get killed or seriously injured in the event of an accident and those have already happened where I live, with a large proportion going towards recklessness of the driver/rider.
These vehicles have been recorded travelling down highways, criss-crossing traffic, cutting in front of busses, etc, often with very gory results for every part involved.
We do not need more blood on the streets.
In Germany they're limited to bicycle infrastructure and neither sidewalks nor highways are that, 20km/h (hardware limit, 12.4274mph in colonial units), no license but minimum age is 14, same DUI laws as for cars, and you need insurance. Which, granted, is quite cheap at 30-60 Euro a year and comes with a cute little license plate in fashionable colours (as in: changes every year). There's also some signalling requirements mostly mirroring bikes, minimum standards for brakes, such stuff. No regular technical inspection, though.
The morale? If you want to go fast get a bike 30km/h aren't that hard.
Do the police actually speedcheck you? It's also 20km/h maximum in Sweden, but the police haven't stopped me yet when I routinely go 35+ for many years now.
Driving faster would mean unlocking it which means it's not street-legal any more which isn't much of a fine, 70 Euros, but it also means that the insurance is invalid which means up to one year prison/fine and might cost you your driving license.
They really went all-in on the insurance thing because apparently people behave like pedestrians with the thing, but at bicycle speeds and above which isn't a good mix.
Only one of these is often ridden on footpaths and walking areas.
The limit makes sense.
Another bullshit cars are evil post that just ignore facts and reality.
Cars can somewhat be evil but if you want to capture the attention of people you've go to post well considered arguments.
Not crap like this.
I drive a scooter and don't own a car. But this is the sort of braindead post that will likely drive me to block this community. It's an embarrassment to anybody who can think logically.
Then use a fucking ebike? Motorized vehicles dont belong on sidewalks, period. How the fuck are people gonna walk to work in a BUSINESS DISTRICT if there's scooters saturating the sidewalk?
They have to go on bicycle lanes and streets (where there is no bicycle lane) here in Germany. Makes sense tbh. Cars should be slowed down to 30km/h in settlements though imo. Going on a 50km/h street is neither safe for bicycle, nor e-scooters, nor for crossing pedestrians.
And they are great ways of transportation. Grant us public transport users so much more independency.
They should introduce enforced signal lights though (only some have them). That is my only real concern here. Signalling with the arm is just not safe on a e-scooter.
Wankpanzers vs actually suitable last-mile vehicles.
Not to detract from the idea that trucks are dangerous (they most definitely are) but I’m not sure this is the best argument for this. An asshole in a truck doesn’t mean they necessarily will drive their truck down the sidewalk like what is common with assholes on two wheels. 4 wheels will do many other dangerous things. but assholes who ride their two wheels on sidewalks going top speed even at 15 without making room for pedestrians is a valid concern.
It's also primarily an issue of lacking infrastructure. Two wheeled assholes wouldn't be on the sidewalk if there was a bike lane, unless they're huge two wheeled assholes.
100% this, the only time I ride my ebike on the sidewalk is when there is no bike lane or separate bike path. Cause if I have to choose between riding on a 45 mph road or the sidewalk I'm gonna pick the sidewalk and just go slower when pedestrians are around.
I've been hit by people on Escooters 3 times in the last 4 years.
If you wanna add speed controls to cars fine, but I think the ones that cohabit the sidewalk that people are routinely driving drunk as fuck can absolutely stay speed locked.
Where’s the guy that got hit by the vehicles on the right? Maybe there’s a reason that perspective isn’t being heard.
if you want to add speed control to cars fine
I'm literally not arguing against speed controls on cars. You can tell that by reading.
I'm saying I ALSO appreciate the mechanisms on scooters helping to keep me, as a pedestrian safe.
What is wrong with your brain that makes these mutually exclusive propositions?
Bunch of crabs arguing against other crabs in the comments rather than reclaiming the seas for ourselves.
it's gonna be hilarious in a decade when all these trucknuts types have to give up their giant jacked up shitmobiles. vroom vroom while you can children.
Just wait for the EV Escalade where the fucking thing weighs in at 9000lbs....
Cars rarley drive on the sidewalk though.
ah yes, time to build scooter lanes in pedestrian districts that pedestrians aren't allowed on and make it a crime to cross them when there's traffic. great idea.